Effect of different spacings on two sorghum varities copy (repaired)

Effect of Plant Spacing on Growth and Yield Components of Two Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) varieties Under Rain fed Conditions.

Yahia Dawoud El Die1, Hussien Abdulaziz Fadul2.

1

Department of Biological Sciences, Al Fashir University, El Fasher, Sudan.

2

Agricultural Research Corporation, El Fasher, Sudan.

Email.yahiaeldie0@gmail.com

‫أثر ﻣﺴﺎﻓﺎت اﻟﺰراﻋﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟنمو وﻣكونﺎت األنتﺎج ﻓﻲ اثنﻴﻦ ﻣﻦ أﺻنﺎف اﻟذر ة اﻟرﻓيعﺔ تحت‬ ‫ظروف االﻣطﺎر‬ ‫ﻣدتخﻠص اﻟبحث‬ ‫التررة الرايعت اتي مديشت كبكفبيت‬

‫تجربت حقميت لتقيتي تتثيير مدتفافت الز ارعت السختمفت عمتي أنتتف أصتشف‬

‫أجريت‬

‫ أستتخدم ترتسي القطفعتفت العذتوايي الكفممت‬.‫م‬5102‫ و‬5102 ‫ ختل خريفتي‬،‫بواليت شتسف داراتور الدتودا‬ 21×21( ‫التجربت الرتشفي (طفبت ) و (ودأحستد) مت أربت مدتتويفت مدتفافت الز ارعت‬ ‫ود أحستد أعطتي أنتتف أكبتر‬ ‫ود‬

‫ شتسم‬.‫بتثرب مكترارت‬

‫ الرتش‬،‫ أظهترت الشتتفي أ‬.) ‫ ست‬52×52( ‫ ست ) و‬21×52) ) ‫ ست‬52×21( ) ‫ست‬

‫ أنتتف الحبتوب لمرتش‬،‫ وبفلسثت اتف‬. ‫تفبت‬

‫ السئ حب ولكشهف أقرر مت الرتش‬،‫ ووز‬،‫ الحبوب لمفدا‬،‫م وز‬

‫ ست حيت‬21x52 ‫ ست مقفرنت بفلز ارعت الواستع‬21x52 ‫اتي الز ارعت الزتيق‬

‫طفبت‬

‫أحسد أعمي مقفرن بفلرش‬

‫متتر‬/‫ جترام‬255712 ‫متتر مقفرنت االنتتف األدنتي لمحبتوب‬/‫ جترام‬0559702 ،‫ األنتف االقري لمحبتوب كتف‬،‫نجد أ‬ . ‫ س‬52×21 ‫ توصي الدراس بزراع السحرو أيشفء موس الخريف بثستخدام مدفافت الزراع‬.‫للخير‬ .‫الررة الرايع ؛ مدفافت الزراع ؛ أنتف الحبوب‬

‫ أصشف‬: ‫الكمسفت االاتتفحي‬

ABSTRACT A field experiment to evaluate the effect of different plant spacing on the yield of sorghum varieties was conducted at Kabkabia city, North Darfur State, Sudan, during rainy seasons of 2015 and 2016. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) having four replications. Two varieties V1 (Tabat) and V2 (Wad Ahmed) and four spacing treatments S1 (50 cm x 50 cm), S2 (50 cm x 25 cm), S3 (75 cm x 50 cm) and S4 (75 cm x 25 cm) were used. Results showed that variety Wed Ahmed produced more seed weight per feddan, and more 100- seed weight but was shorter than variety Tabat. Similarly, grain yield of Wad Ahmed was significantly greater than that of Tabat, at the narrow plant spacing (50x25cm) compared to the wide plant spacing (75x50cm); it gave the maximum yield of 1279.15gm-1 against the minimum yield of 622.05gm-1 in the latter. It is recommended that the crop should be sown during the rainy season with a plant spacing of 50x25 cm.

Key words: Sorghum varieties; plant spacing; grain yield.

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INTRODUCTION Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) originated in Africa, more precisely in Ethiopia, between 5000 and 7000 years ago (ICRISAT, 2005). From there, it was distributed along the trade and shipping routes aroundthe African continent, and through the Middle East to India at least 3000 years ago. It thenjourneyed along the Silk Route into China (Dicko et al., 2006).Sorghum is the fourth most important cereal crop grown in the United States, and the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world (Bryden et al., 2009).

Plant density is one of the important factors which determine growth, development and yield (McMurray, 2004; McRae et al., 2008; Khaliq et al., 2009). Plant density selection to allow for expression of maximum grain yield is a management practice that would make sorghum production more economical. Results indicate that yields of grain sorghum can be improved by increasing the plant densities (Schatz et al., 1990). Cultivation of plants with desirable density has positive effect on crop yield components, so that the suitable yield will be achieved by optimum plant density (Cox, 1996; Widdicombe and Thelen, 2002).

However, maintenance of optimum planting density is always a big problem to the farmers. Substandard plant density results in high weeds infestation, poor radiation use efficiency and low yield, while dense plant population on the other hand may cause lodging, poor light penetration in the canopy, reduce photosynthesis due to shading of lower leaves and drastically reduce the yield (Jettner et al., 1998; Lemerle et al., 2006).

Tillering is an important morphological component of grain sorghum development because it affects light capture, water use, grain yield, plant competition and other physical and biological processes (Krishnareddy et al., 2006).

Researchers reported that as increased plant populations (number of tillers) (Pawlowski et al., 1993; Ibrahim and Hala, 2007; Caliskan et al., 2007), Plant height (Garrison and Briggs, 1972; Shepel and Aristarkhova, 1982; Ayubet et al., 2003), grain yield per unit area increased (Caliskan et al., 2007( .The aim of this research is to study the effect of plant spacing on grain yield and some attributes of grain Sorghum.in the rainy season in North Darfur where rainfall is usually erratic and unpredictable.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment to determine the effect of different plant spacing on the yield and its components of two sorghum varieties was conducted at Kabkabia city, North Darfur state, Sudan. At latitude 13º21´N and longitude 24º5´E, 760m above sea level) during the rainy seasons of 2015 and 2016 on light clay soil. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications in both seasons.

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The experiment comprised of four different plant spacing levels i.e.; S1 ) 50 cm x 50 cm), S2 (50 cm x 25 cm), S3 (75 cm x 50 cm) and S4 (75 cm x 25 cm) and two sorghum varieties V1 (Tabat) and V2 (Wad Ahmed).With a net plot size of 3 m x 2.25 m with 6 lines in each plot.

Seasonal rain distribution was shown in Table 1.The land was ploughed using a disc plough and then followed with leveling by hand. The sowing was performed on the 5th of August in 2015 and on 4th of August in 2016.All other agronomic practices were kept uniform for all treatments.

The observations such as plant height (cm), 100-seed weight (g), grain yield (gm-1) and seed weight/feddan (tha-1) were recorded. The data collected was analyzed statistically by using SAS program.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Plant height (cm): Plant height is an important component which helps in the determination of growth attained during the growing period. Data showed that the effect of plant population on plant height was not- significant. Plant spacing in the Tables 2, 3 showed that maximum mean plant height (132.07cm) was recorded when the crop was raised at 75x25 cm spacing, which was not statistically different compared to crop grown at other spacings. Similarly minimum plant height (131.64 cm) was recorded from the plots planted at 50x25 cm.The crop grown at 50x50 cm produced plant height of 131.66 cm which was statistically similar to that of 75x50 cm spacing. plant height was not statistically significant between the two varieties.

Variety Tabat produced the tallest plants (137.67 cm) in the first season; however not significant from those of Wad Ahmed (130.05 cm) while the character declined in the second season (data not shown). These results are in contrast with Gozubenli et al. (2001) and Konuskan (2000) who found that there was a considerable varietal variation for plant height. The increased plant height in narrow plant spacing might be due to thick plant stand. The stem diameter is reduced as compared to wider plant spacing.

In wider plant spacing there is abundance of available resources and hence the plants were better than thick plant stands. In narrow plant spacing there was more competition for available resources and hence plants were tall but weaker than wider plant spacing. These results are in line with the findings of Konuskan (2000) who found that plant height increased with increases in plant density up to 10 plants m-2, Turgut (2000) reported that there were no intra-row spacing effects on plant height. The information about the influence of row spacing on sorghum plant height is contradictory. Porter et al. (1960) reported that the 30 cm spacing produced the shorter while the 100 cm spacing had taller plants.

Stickler and Laude (1960) attribute the increase in plant height as row width decreases, to competition for light. They stated that under limited light, elongation of internodes is a common plant response.

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100-grain weight (g): 100grain weight is an important yield contributing factor, which plays an important role in showing the potential of a variety. Data in Table 2 indicate that 100 grain weight at a plant population density of 75x25 cm produced significantly maximum (2.57 g) weight of 100 grains, followed by plant population density of 75x50 cm which produced (2.48 g) grams of 100 grain weight. The treatment S2 (50x25 cm) produced a weight of 2.42 g followed by a minimum of 2.38 g in treatment S1 (50x50 cm).Results showed that the lowest plant population density resulted in the heaviest grains. Akcin et al. (1993) also reported that 1000-grain weight increased with decreasing plant population density in maize. Low grain weight in high plant population density might be due to availability of less photosynthesis for grain development because of high competition which could have resulted in low rate of photosynthesis and high rate of respiration as a result of enhanced mutual shading. Reduction in 1000grain weight due to high plant population density has also been reported

by Cox (1996) and Tyagi et al. (1998).

As the data for varieties was concerned the maximum 100-grain weight of 2.72 g was achieved by V1 with plant spacing S4 compared to 2.41 g for the same spacing reached by V2. These results are in line with the findings of Rogers and Lomman (1988), who stated that there were varietal differences in 1000-grain weight, which increased with increasing plant spacing.

Grain yield (gm-1): Grain yield is a function of integrated effects of genetic makeup of cultivars and growing conditions on the yield components of a crop.

Grain yield is the end result of many complex morphological and physiological processes occurring during the growth and development of a crop. The growing conditions are changed by different plant spacing (Zamir et al., 2011).

Data on grain yield as influenced by plant population density and two varieties are given in Table 3.It is clear from the data that the highest plant population density differed significantly in grain yield from the others. The maximum mean grain yield (1160.23gm-1) was observed in spacing S2 (50x25 cm), followed by S1 (50x50 cm) which produced 830.64 gm-1 yield. The S4 (75x50 cm) produced a grain yield of 765.48 gm-1 followed by a minimum of 684.45 gm-1 in S4 (75x25 cm) spacing.

Grain yield is the product of crop dry matter accumulation and the proportion of the dry matter allocated to the grain. The findings are in good agreement with Farnham (2001) who reported that corn grain yield increased from 10.1 to 10.8 t ha-1. Porter et al., (1997) reported inconsistent optimal plant density levels ranging from 86000 to 101270 plants ha-1 for corn grain yield across three Minnesota locations. Ali et 4

al., (2016) found that increasing plant densities led to increased biomass production and seed yield per unit area and not able to compensated the low number and weight of grains per panicle.

Variety Wad Ahmed gave higher yield of (891.88) gm-1 against Tabat which gave 828.51gm-1 yield. These differences in the grain yield of varieties may have been due to the differences in their yield potential.

The present results are in agreement with the findings of Gozubenli et al., (2001) and Farnham (2001). Higher grain yield (1279.15 gm-1) was obtained at spacing of 50x25 cm in variety Wad Ahmed, while the minimum (622.05 gm-1) was obtained at spacing of 75x50 cm in variety Tabat. These results are in line with the findings of Zand et al., (2014).

Fischer and Wilson (1975) studied the effect of plant density on grain sorghum grown at 14,352; 143,520; and 645,836 plants /ha. They obtained a high grain yield of 14,250 kg/ha at 645,836 plants /ha. They indicated that this was as a result of higher dry matter production at the highest plant population .The effect of plant population on yield components of grain sorghum has shown that high plant populations decrease panicles per plant, head size, and seed weight per plant, but increases per unit area. Research has shown that high plant populations have the advantage of reducing the growth of weeds (Wiese et al., 1964; Porter et al., 1960).

Seed Weight/feddan: The highest seed weight/feddan was obtained at the highest plant density (Tables 2, 3). The maximum seed weight/feddan (3.38) was observed at spacing level S2 (50x25 cm), followed by S1 (50x50 cm) which produced (2.65) seed weight. The S4 (75x25 cm) produced a seed weight/feddan of (2.58) followed by a minimum of (2.20) in S3 (75x50 cm) spacing.

Results showed that the highest plant population density resulted in the heaviest seeds.

As varieties are regarded, the variety Wad Ahmed gave slightly better seed weight/feddan of (2.75) against Tabat which gave (2.60) seed weight per feddan. As regarded plant population density shown in Tables 2, 3 the maximum mean seed weight/feddan (3.38) was produced at plant population density of 50x25 cm followed by plant population density of 50x50 cm. The plant population density of 75x25 cm produced seed weight/feddan (2.58) followed by the minimum seed weight/feddan (2.20) which were produced by the plant population density of 75x50 cm, meanwhile variety Wad Ahemd performed slightly better in the two seasons and across both of them. Increasing density, the seed weight/feddan was significantly increased possibly due to more competition for light, aeration and nutrients and consequently enabling the plants in these treatments to undergo less reproductive growth. These results are in line with the findings of Tyagi et al. (1998) who reported 5

that increasing plant population density in maize increased number of ears per meter square and decreased number of cobs per plant.

CONCLUSION It could be concluded that under the agro climatic conditions of Kabkabia, the sorghum variety Wad Ahmed performed best for grain yield and seed weight/feddan when sown at 50 cm row spacing and 25 cm plant to plant spacing than the other variety Tabat.

Table 1: Distribution of rain during seasons 2015 and 2016.

Month

Rainy Season 2015 (mm)

Rainy Season 2016 (mm)

May

59.5

14

June

10.5

117

July

228

206.5

August

194

386.5

September

92

32

October

53

4.5

Total

637

760.5

Mean

106.17

126.75

Source: Agriculture Office, Kabkabia.

Table (2): Effect of spacing level on yield parameters of the two sorghum varieties, combined across two seasons.

Variety Tabat

Plant height (cm)

Grain Yield (gm-1)

S1 S2 S3 S4 Mean

131.66A 131.64A 132.07A 131.73 A 131.9 6.92 0.12

831.65B 1041.3A 746.85 B 694.25 B 828.51 18.31 0.14

C.V. SE

Seed Weight/F

2.63 AB 3.11 A 2.29 B 2.38 B 2.60 19.07 0.13

100 Seed Weight (g) 2.29B 2.31 B 2.48AB 2.72A 2.45 13.2 0.11

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Variety Wad Ahmed

Plant height (cm)

Grain Yield (gm-1)

Seed Weight /F

S1 S2 S3 S4 Mean C.V. SE

122.32A 118.5 A 120.89A 118.44A 120.01 8.12 0.03

829.60 B 1279.15A 622.05B 836.70 B 891.88 19.11 0.18

2.67 B 3.44 A 2.10C 2.77B 2.75 21.04 0.15

100 Seed Weigh t (g) 2.46A 2.52A 2.48A 2.41B 2.47 12.62 0.1

Table 3.Yield and its components of sorghum as affected by spacing levels and varieties.

Variety /Spacing V1

Plant height (cm) V2 mean

Grain Yield (gm-1) V1

V2

Seed Weight/F

mean

V1

V2

100 Seed Weight (g) mean

V1

V2

mean

S1

131.66

122.32

126.99A

831.65

829.60

830.64B

2.63

2.67

2.65B

2.29

2.46

2.38B

S2

131.64

118. 5

125.07A

1041.3

1279.15

1160.23A

3.11

3.44

3.38A

2.31

2.52

2.42B

S3

132.07

120.89

126.48A

746.85

622.05

648.45B

2.29

2.10

2.20C

2.48

2.48

2.48AB

S4

131.73

118.44

125.09A

694.25

836.70

765.48B

2.38

2.77

2.58B

2.72

2.41

2.57 A

Mean

131.9 A

120.01 A

828.51B

891.88B

C.V.

6.92

8.12

18.31

19.108

SE

0.12

0.03

0.14

0.18

2.60 B

2.75 B

2.45 B

2.47 B

19.07

21.044

13.2

12.62

0.13

0.15

0.11

0.1

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